The Daimler Board of Management has decided that the company will invest in a new stamping facility for Mercedes-Benz.

The stamping facility for exterior panels for Mercedes-Benz trucks and the successor generations of the Mercedes-Benz A-class and B-class passenger cars will be built in Kuppenheim and be part of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Gaggenau.

The total investment in the stamping facility will amount to around €70 million.

The most important factors that led to the selection of Kuppenheim were the site’s proximity to Gaggenau and to the plants in Wörth and Rastatt for which the panels are destined, as well as the good infrastructure and road connections in the Murgtal area and the outstanding qualifications of the skilled workers in the region.

The Gaggenau plant serves as the Group’s centre of expertise for mechanical and automated manual transmissions and it consistently implements the company’s long-term transmission strategy.

Due to the crowded situation at the Gaggenau plant and the lack of space into which it could expand, the forming technology unit will be relocated to the new stamping facility.

The space freed up as a result of the move will then be available for the expansion of the powertrain manufacturing facility in Gaggenau.

Construction of the new stamping facility will commence on the 156,000 m2 plot of land in the first quarter of 2009. The building is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2010, when test operations will be launched.

Once the first stage of construction is completed, the new stamping facility will provide jobs for around 130 people, some of whom will be employees already working for Daimler.

Today, employees engaged in forming technology work at the stamping and welding facility in Gaggenau produce high-quality sheet metal body parts and components for the Mercedes-Benz car and truck assembly plants in Rastatt and Wörth.

“The decision to construct a new stamping facility is an investment in the future of Mercedes-Benz as well as a clear expression of our commitment to the production location in Gaggenau and to the Murgtal region,” said Dr. Holger Steindorf, Head of Global Axle and Transmission Production for Trucks and Vans at Daimler AG.

“Ensuring the location’s economic success is a major priority for us, as it safeguards the jobs we offer in the region.”

“This is one of the most important industrial facilities in the region,” said Michael Brecht, Chairman of the Labour Council at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Gaggenau.

“With this development the plant has taken a further step toward achieving its strategic goals. We would like to thank the managers and the stamping facility’s entire staff for working so hard to create the conditions for making this investment possible. I would also like to thank the mayors Mußler and Wein from Kuppenheim and Bischweier for their highly professional and farsighted support“.

The investment in the stamping facility is an example of how the company is consistently implementing Daimler Trucks’ Global Excellence program. Within the framework of the “Future Production Generations and Technologies" initiative, the division invests in pioneering projects and future model projects even during economic downturns in order to secure its medium and long-term competitiveness.